Mississippi Lawmakers Approve Ban on Abortion After 15 Weeks

According to the Associated Press, the Mississippi House has passed a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks. If this pass passes it the state will have the strictest abortion laws in the nation. There are two exceptions to the ban that will allow for an abortion after 15 weeks: (1) if the mother’s life or “major bodily function” is at risk due to pregnancy or (2) if the fetus had a health issue that would prevent its survival after a full term birth.

The House voted 75-34 to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks. The Senate then approved the bill on Monday (March 6). Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant is in full support of the bill and has voiced his plans to sign it into law. Gov. Bryant hopes for “Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child.”

Republicans have been pushing for the bill for some time now. There has been some controversy surrounding it as the bill will ban abortions 15 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual cycle. There is also no exception from women who conceive due to rape or incest. Republican Representative Becky Currie introduced the bill under the disproved belief that there are “significant physical and psychological risks” for women that have abortions and that they increase with each week of pregnancy that passes.

The attorney general plans “an immediate and expensive legal challenge” to the bill, noting that other states have struck down bans on abortions at certain phases of pregnancy. There is only one abortion clinic in Mississippi and the owner intends to sue over the ban.

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